The biggest trouble I ran into while pumping breastmilk was not having any free hands. This was troublesome for two reasons. One - this prevented me from being able to feed Melody AND pump at the same time. This was an issue only at night because I did that feeding alone, and I was ready to go back to sleep! Prior to my pumping bra, it was taking me 15 minutes to prep for feeding and pumping, 30 minutes to feed, and 30 minutes to pump. Then I had to clean up, change Melody, put her to bed, then go to bed myself. That was over 90 minutes! The second reason was that my hands would get super tired from holding the breast shields in place while pumping. I sometimes would slide my bra over the bottom of the shields, but it would still leak.
All in Kids
Baby Friendly Initiative Hospital Experience
I delivered Melody at Madison Hospital in Madison, AL. Madison Hospital is currently pursuing the "Baby Friendly" designation. The practice that I use only delivers at two hospitals locally. Both hospitals are pursuing this designation. We did tour both hospitals, and we were made aware of the hospitals goals at achieving this rare designation. During our tours, we really were not that concerned with this. One reason being that we had no choice. With both hospitals doing this, it really had no impact on which hospital we decided to deliver Melody in. The second reason is honestly, we did not realize the impact this would have on us (more about that below).
Introducing Melody Camille
On May 25, 2016, our world changed forever. Melody Camille arrived! She was born at 9:42 p.m., weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. She is absolutely perfect in every way possible. See below for yourself: